Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Dad gets 2 years in debtors prison

June 9, 2009 (CHICAGO) -- An Arizona man has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for failing to pay more than $65,000 in child support.

Maurice Bell of Avondale, Ariz., was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly.

Bell used to live in Chicago. He was convicted by a jury in January following a three-day trial at which prosecutors said there was no evidence he had ever made a child-support payment.

Prosecutors say they believe it's the first time a criminal child support case had gone to trial in Chicago's federal court. But they say a number of defendants charged with failing to pay had pleaded guilty to the charge.

If he had failed to pay his income taxes, IRS would not put him in jail. IRS would just look to see if he has any money anywhere, and take it. I wonder whether the jury understood that.

29 comments:

This case sounds like a prosecution under the Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act. These cases are only prosecuted when the absent parent relocates to another state to avoid paying court-ordered child support, AND the case cannot be prosecuted unless it is proven that the absent parent had the ability to pay but just flat-out refused.

I have heard of cases of jailed dads who claim that they have no money. If it were really proved that they have the money, then the court could just seize the money, as IRS and other creditors do. I do not see how jail could ever be justified.

I know about a horrendous case where the dad owes more than $200,000 in back child support (he's a millionaire, did not pay for almost 10 years and moved out of state to further avoid the state's collection efforts. He had already abandoned his kids long before the divorce was final). He went to federal prison for 90 days, paid hit-and-miss while he was on probation for 9 months and has not paid a dime since. The feds do not seize assets, do not go after the spouse's accounts where the guy has parked his money, and won't re-prosecute him for non-payment because they have limited resources and prefer to prosecute new cases instead of repeat offenders.

While I don't believe that jail is the right answer for fathers who fail to pay their court ordered child support, I do think that if there was ever a deadbeat dad who deserved jail time, this guy is it! This guy not only failed to pay his court ordered child support for his FIRST CHILD for well over a decade, but then continued on to have nearly a DOZEN MORE CHILDREN in those following 10 years! He clearly was able to pay the approximately $500 a month in child support that was ordered, as he had an annual income in excess of $100,000 throughout that period of time. Not to mention the additional income he brought in regularly from the many women he conned to further finance his lifestyle. He could have easily supported his child and paid the child support that was ordered, especially given how relatively low that amount was in comparison to how much he made per year. What makes jail time for this deadbeat dad even more appropriate is the fact that he had NEVER PAID A DIME OF CHILD SUPPORT ON HIS OWN VOLITION IN WELL OVER A DECADE! Actually the ONLY SUPPORT that had ever been recovered was as a result of WAGE GARNISHMENT, which in itself was few and far between considering how frequently he jumped around from job to job! With all that evidence on the record, this guy was arrogant enough to decide to "fight" the charges and his ridiculous defense as to why he should not be found guilty was because the "statute of limitations had expired!" Besides the exception of the child reaching legal majority, since when does paying child support fall under a statute of limitations when supporting your child is clearly an ONGOING obligation??? He never would've been prosecuted and sent to prison in the first place had he done the right thing and simply ACCEPTED that he owed the child support that he clearly did! I mean that part is pretty cut and dry, he either paid his court ordered child support or he didn't pay. Considering the totality of everything in this situation, jail time was MOST DEFINITELY called for and MOST DEFINITELY deserved!

Maurice ripped me off also. He also assaulted me. He has a prior assault charge from 2013 and is not eligible for diversion. He is facing jail time and three years probation. He is s total loser and is not even that good looking. His scammer life is catching up to him! He recently got evicted from his landlord in Phoenix.

Maurice not only ripped me off, he assaulted me as well. He has a prior assault charge from 2013 and is facing jail time and three years probation. He was evicted from his rented condo in July 2013. EVERYTHING that this guy says is a total lie. His ex girlfirend found him on gay dating sites. He probably liked men when he was in Federal Prision for two years!!

THE VERDICT= GUITLYMarurce Bell was found guilty of assulting a woman in November 2013. He has another pending assult change from one of his prior neighbors from the condo he got evicted from in July 2013. He received a year probation and 27 Anger management classes.

I'm so glad to hear this guy is getting what he deserves ! Finally !!!!!He abused me and took my money too. I agree with the other post , he is not that good looking. I would be interested in getting to know the other people he has scammed , maybe we can even get together to try and recover our money? There is power in numbers. Have a think about it people ?

THE TRUTH:Believe me ladies, Maurice Bell is paying in his own loser respect. He had to pay his Public Defender in Arizona. The Public defender did nothing for him because he was found GUILTY by a judge in criminal court. He has to pay his PROBATION OFFICER FEES FOR ONE YEAR and pay for his ANGER MANAGEMENT classes. He has had 4 jobs in the last year in Arizona. I have the IRS watching him so I can collect on my JUDGEMENT. His other ASSAULT charge is still pending in Ariozna. He is facing jail time. This is where this CON belongs.

I rarely leave a response, however i did a few searching and wound up hhere "Dad gets 2 years in debtors prison".And I actually do have 2 questions for you if it's allright.

Could it be simply mee or doess it look like some of these responses look as if they are coming fom brain dead folks?:-P And, if you are writing at other sites, I would like to follow everything new you have to post. Could you list of all of your shared pages like your twitter feed, Facebook page or liniedin profile?

assaulted me too, around 2001. tried to press charges but cops did not do their job. i hope he rots in hell. he's easy enough to find. not sure why his ass isn't in jail yet. https://www.facebook.com/Chefmeau

my name is edie and i am his first love and believe me when i was 16 and got pregnant to maurice in high school and i went to tell him i was 6 weeks pregnant i seen him walking with his x girl friend and immediately broke up with him. he did everything to make me believe he was sorry and to please forgive him. well this went on til the day i had erin rebecca i hated him i at my young age believed in morals of an honest relationship. well let me tell you i was the meanest and most stuborn girlfriend he could of ask for. never would i let him be around me at all not one time i would go as far as call the cops on him for talking to me if he seen me in the mall. well i went in labor and low and behold i was sleeping in the labor hall and i woke up and he was sitting there crying for my pain and his love for our unborn baby i went thru 30 hours of labor pain where my pain meds were inserted the wrong way and i completely at age 17 felt 30 hours of full and the most pain ever ever ever and i mean ever should be aloud. he cried and in all my pain i managed to scream full of hatred towards him to get him out of my room i pulled out my iv threw it across the room and demanded he leave the hospital well any ways enough about me he that day was saving for the birthing expenses and wrote a check the next day which the hospital would not take because i was fully insured well he and erin have a great relationship and i did start dating him again but that did not last. everyone has problems and non of us our to judge if you woman gave him your money over and over who would not take it if it was a few sweet little words to get money we would all do it. your fault maurice just wanted a wonderful life he was raised with mother father sibling in a one room efficieny shared one bathroom with the whole building. he is very peaceful and nice and educated and made a whole lot of beautiful children hey i would of did it too you gave it to him no conning or scamming